2016 Objectives

Every January we sit down to make a list of Outdoorsy Objectives that we would like to complete over the course of the next year. These are sort of like New Year’s Resolutions, but are a little more concrete – less “eat healthier” and more “climb X mountain and compete in Y race.” We’ll update this list as we check things off!

Shared Objectives:

Get married!!
We’re getting married in September. I won’t bore you with the details, but yes – we’re super excited!

✘ Compete in the Sinister Night RunUpdate 4/16/16 – Looks like the timing won’t work out for this one… Next year!!
This will be a great training opportunity for our events later in the summer. Plus, running an entire race at night is so novel!

Run-Bike the Lionhead-Targhee LoopLast year we sketched out a great route on the Continental Divide in West Yellowstone that encompasses Lionhead, Bald, and Targhee peaks (not to be confused with the Grand Targhee ski resort, which lies ~100 miles to the south.) We’ll do most of the mileage on our bikes then switch over to running to bag the peaks. At ~30 miles and ~5k feet of gain, it’s going to be a fun day with some seriously epic Montana scenery.

Complete the R2R2R trail run
A trail run from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the North Rim, and then back. All in all it’s about 45 miles of running and 11k feet of elevation gain / loss. Hilde won’t be able to join us on this one, unfortunately.

Run the Middle Teton
The Middle Teton was our radar last year but we just couldn’t quite squeeze it in. A narrow weather window and tight travel plans kept us from it last year, but 2016 is the time to get that peak!

Alyssa’s Objectives:

✓ Be able to skate ski in “zone 2” for a full hourUpdate 4/1/16 – Success! It took a lot of floundering but by the end of the season I was able to skate around the Rendezvous Trails for 2-2.5 hours at a time without feeling like I was going to die. 🙂
I’m currently learning to skate ski and am struggling to maintain good form for long periods of time, which means that my heart rate spikes incredibly high and I need to take lots of breaks. I’m hoping to improve my form so that I can ski efficiently and keep my heart rate down for longer ski sessions.

Mountain Bike the White Rim in Two Days
The White Rim is a 100 mile loop in Moab, Utah. I’m hoping to bike the entire loop in two 50 mile days – making for both an incredible trip and great training for the Silver Queen in July. Will won’t be joining this one as it’ll be a ladies-only trip!

Run the Leadville Marathon
Training for the Silver Queen! Plus, a great excuse to hang out in Leadville for a few weeks.

Ride & Run the Leadville “Silver Queen”
The pinnacle of my summer: a 50 mile mountain bike race followed by a 50 mile trail run the next day! Each leg (they’re on the same course) covers about ~7300 vertical feet of gain/loss. So stoked for this, and also somewhat terrified.

Will’s Objectives:

Compete in the Power of Four in Aspen
I got a small taste of the skimo world last year and am ready for more. The Power of Four will be a big test piece to see where I am with my training for this year.

Compete in the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse in < 10 hours
This was my first ever endurance event last year in 2015. I’d like to go back this year with the same partner and shave 2 hours off our time. The biggest problem is that we’re on the waitlist. If anyone has access to tickets, let me know!

Compete in the Nomad 48 Adventure Race
I had an awesome time competing in my first adventure race last September. This year we plan to step it up with a longer event in June. If that goes well I hope to do more adventure racing in the future!

Run the Madison Range Traverse
I’ve been eyeballing this cross-country traverse of some of southwestern Montana’s most beautiful peaks for a while now. The goal is to start near Quake Lake and travel north through the highest points of the southern Madison Range ending after ~50 miles at the top of Big Sky’s Lone Peak.

Non Outdoorsy New Years Resolutions:

Alyssa wants to make a 2016 yearbook (check out the 2015 book below or click here – it won’t display below if you have adblock on!) and up the ante with a short 2016 video. Will wants to take more photos, read more books, and catch a fish while dry-flying (he isn’t a very good fisherman – his words, not mine.) Together we want to work on saving more money than we spend and sticking to a budget that we define at the beginning of each month.

| Design your own photo book with Mixbook’s easy online editor.

Do you have big plans for 2016?
Tell us about them in the comments below!

Alyssa jumped head first into outdoor sports when she quit her job at a successful tech startup to hike the John Muir Trail in 2013. Afterwards, she convinced Will to join her in starting a consulting company. He was game, with one condition: they move from Mountain View, CA to Boulder, CO. In Boulder they fell in love with mountain biking and trail running and realized that as long as they had internet, they could work from anywhere. Thus, the bus idea was born, and after a few months of hard work renovating the 2001 GMC BlueBird, they started living the dream of traveling full time while still maintaining "adult" careers. Thanks for following along on our adventure!

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We're Will & Alyssa. In 2013 we quit our Silicon Valley startup jobs to move to Boulder, Colorado and start our own company. The following year we decided to put the "remote work" trend to the test by moving into a 37' school bus we converted into the ultimate adventure mobile. We traveled full time for two years, and recently settled down in Bozeman, Montana to enjoy the mountain life with our dogs Hilde and Yodel.

Want to get in touch?
The fastest way to get a hold of us is on Facebook Messenger( « Click to start a message!) but you can also email us. Happy Trails!